


The High Mage's Gambit

by DiplomaticTranslator (Finn_The_Leafman)



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Coin Runaan, F/M, Gramaya, Gren in the Dungeon, Some trickery from Viren, tdp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-09-22 14:12:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17061257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finn_The_Leafman/pseuds/DiplomaticTranslator
Summary: When Amaya notices that Gren hadn't reported in, Viren devises a plan to keep her away from the castle. This plan involves Gren. Gren/Amaya





	1. Preparations

Gren didn’t know how long he had spent down in the dungeon. Sometimes he would try and make conversation with the other prisoner, though usually he didn’t get much of a response. Just talking made him feel better. Occasionally he’d find himself whispering a tune or two that he’s picked up while in the military. 

Often his thoughts would wander to General Amaya. Even though it wasn’t his fault he was taken off of the mission and thrown in jail, he couldn’t help but feel like he failed her. Sometimes he’d dwell on those feelings, and other times he’d shove them away. One thing he knew for sure was that she was going to be upset if she ever found out he was imprisoned. 

Then the High Mage, Viren, brought a Mirror down with him and took it to the cell where the other prisoner was at. Moments later, when Gren had started whistling a tune to himself. He had heard loud screaming. It echoed down the hall and caused the other Man’s heart to ache. He didn’t know much about who it was that was down there, but nobody deserved what it sounded like this prisoner was getting.

The screams came to an abrupt halt a moment later and Viren stepped out of the room walking down the hall, silhouetted at first save for a pair of glowing purple eyes. As he got closer, other features were revealed. The mere sight of the man sent a shiver down Gren’s spine. What he said next seemed to be aimed at himself more than the man right in front of him. 

“I always seem to capture the same expression. Defiance, giving way to absolute fear.” He seemed to be holding a coin. Gren didn’t know what the man was talking about, he was too afraid to process it, but he could tell that coin was important.

Viren slipped the coin into the pouch on his right hip and continued up the stairs, completely ignoring Gren. The man let go of a breath he was holding, his mind going a mile a minute. He took a few more breaths to get himself to calm down and told himself there was nothing he could do. He stayed like that for a few more days. He noticed that the other prisoner talked even less than usual.

Then Viren came downstairs yet again, he seemed upset about something. Gren noticed the man’s skin tone had changed back to normal but he was heavily scarred. A letter was clenched tightly in one of his hands. He set his sight on Gren and his expression changed, as if he had an idea. 

“It seems you may be useful to me after all.” He spoke up with a small smile.

“R-Really? That’s g-good to hear.” Gren replied sarcastically, though his tone gave away how scared he was. He watched Viren’s facial expressions, trying to read what he was about to do. 

The Mage placed the letter down and moved around the room, gathering a few things. Gren watched him nervously, but seeing as how he has no idea what any of these things do, it’s near impossible to guess.

He placed all but one ingredient on the barrel that was covered in candles and then crossed the room. He held his palm out to reveal a clawed hand that had bandages wrapped around it, probably once belonging to some sort of small animal. 

“Let’s get rid of that pesky voice of yours first. I don’t want you telling General Amaya about any of this.” Viren spoke before closing his eyes. He began to chant, closing his hand around the object.

“What- No.. NO!” Gren spoke what he feared would be his last words. Viren ignored him, opening his hand to reveal the hand, which now had a green mist around it. Quickly, a long clawed tendril of the mist shot out.

“You don- Y-You can’t!” Gren fumbled over these words, terrified. After all, what use was a translator without a voice? “Please, I-” His words were cut off as the tendril reached into his mouth and pulled out a bright light. Gren watched it move away from him, struggling against his bonds to try and get it back. He tried desperately to speak, over and over again, but nothing came out. He couldn’t believe this is happening, why take his voice now when he’s had Gren in the dungeons for so long?

Viren had moved to the other side of the room, turning his back to the prisoner to lock the voice securely in a cabinet. Once he was done with that, he went back over to Gren, scooping up the other ingredients on the way. Gren didn’t look at Viren, he knew that whatever the man was going to do wasn’t going to be good. His feelings were confirmed by the chanting he heard moments later.

Suddenly a sharp pain wracked Gren’s body, a pain unlike any other. He wanted to scream, but nothing came out. He arched his back and pulled painfully at his restraints. All he could do was close his eyes and try to fight the pain. Burns appeared along his body, on his arms and legs. Tears fell from his eyes and he mouthed various other words along with trying to scream.

Why was Viren doing this? Did the Mage want to kill him? Even through the pain he was trying hard to bite back against, he knew the answer was no. Viren would have never taken his voice if that was the case. He quickly found himself losing consciousness, Just when he felt he was about to pass out, the spell stopped, and he slumped down, held only by his shackles.

To his surprise, Viren seemed to be undoing his shackles. He pushed through the pain to come up with a plan. He didn’t think he was in good enough shape to attempt an escape, but there was one thing he could try. Just after the last shackle was taken off, Gren leaned forward, slumping against Viren with all his weight. The mage almost toppled over. 

Gren took this moment to slip his left hand into the pouch on the Mage’s right side. It didn’t take him long to find something round and metallic. He pulled it out and held it tightly in his hand as Viren righted him and then all but dragged him up the stairs. It was then that Gren let himself pass out, making sure to keep his left hand tight around the coin.


	2. The Plan

Amaya was understandably upset when she hadn’t received a notice from Gren. At first, she tried to dismiss it as a mistake, maybe Gren just forgot. She grew anxious as the days went by. Finally, she sent a letter to Katolis’ castle and made plans to ride back. Gren might not be the fighting type, but he was a military man. It was unlike him to just not send in a report. Instinct told Amaya that something was wrong.

They had secured the breach for the time being, the only thing left to do was to hold it. Amaya chose to ride without an escort since the breach will need all the soldiers it can get. She only took her temporary translator with her. After a long journey, she finally arrived at the castle. She was immediately greeted by Viren.

“General Amaya. I received the letter saying you were coming. How are things at the breach?” Amaya ignored the question and signed to Viren.

‘Where’s Gren?’ She wanted her tone to be slightly threatening, to show that she was serious. Unfortunately the new translator didn’t pull it off as well as Gren would have. 

“I believe he’s still looking for the princes” Viren replied nonchalantly. Amaya kept scanning his face for any signs of deception.

‘Don’t give me that excuse, I have not received a report from him’ Amaya signed, which was promptly followed by a translation. Viren suddenly looked crestfallen.

“I… I didn’t want to tell you but… He was found severely injured by some travelers and brought back here, we’ve been looking after him since. Apologies for lying but I did not want to worry you. It seemed that Commander Gren was just not ready to handle this mission.” 

‘Take me to him. Now.’ Amaya looked like she was just barely holding in her anger, but she also seemed shaken by the news. Luckily, the translator was pretty close this time.

“Of course” Viren gave a light bow to Amaya and led the way to the infirmary. The walk there was quiet as Amaya reflected on her thoughts. Perhaps she had been foolish in sending Gren on this mission…

When Amaya laid eyes on the sleeping form of her closest friend however, all thoughts vanished for a moment. She would have gasped if she could do so. a majority of Gren’s body was bandaged and his breathing seemed to be ragged and slow. Despite the way he was breathing, there were no sounds at all. Amaya was by his side in an instant, her translated following suit. They seemed disturbed by the sight of the man. 

All at once, Amaya let off rapid-fire signs, all questions that went so fast the translator couldn’t keep up. They were just left stuttering in an attempt to mentally process and translate everything she was saying.

“Calm down, Amaya. I’ll answer any questions you may have, but first, I have to tell you something.” Amaya nodded for him to continue, “As you can see, he was caught by a powerful elven spell. The arrival of the travelers that found him saved his life. However… One of the elves took something of his to ensure he does not tell anybody that they were in human territory. They… well… they took his… they took…” Viren seemed like he wasn’t sure how to phrase this sentence.

‘Out with it!’ She signed. That was translated as well.

Viren just held up his pointer and middle finger and pressed them to his throat. A look of genuine horror crossed Amaya’s face as the realization struck her. She mouthed the words ‘no’ and a few others as she scooped up Gren and held him close. Tears were starting to well up in her eyes and she seemed to be trembling. She told herself over and over that this can’t be true.

“We were lucky he knew sign language, or else we’d have no idea what happened.” He paused a moment, waiting for Amaya’s reply. When it didn’t come, he continued. “Listen Amaya, I know you must be devastated but you are needed elsewhere. You must return to the breach.”

‘I’m not leaving him.’ The translator got the tone perfect. Strong and resolute with a hint of sorrow.

“Amaya, now is not the time for you to sit around the castle until he wakes up. That could be days from now. By then, the breach could have fallen to the elves. Don’t be selfish, we’ll take good care of him here, but we need you to defend our borders.” Viren’s tone was soft, understanding.

Amaya seemed to think on it for a little while, absentmindedly running her hands through Gren’s hair. The motion seemed to stir something within him as the man’s eyes opened just a little bit. Thinking quickly, Amaya signed a distraction.

‘Tell me everything that happened, every detail that you were given from Gren starting with the moment he left the castle.’ She freed her hands so that she could sign.

“That is… quite a lot. Are you sure you want to hear it?” Amaya nodded and Viren sighed, starting to recount the story. About a quarter of the way in, he got up and turned around, facing away from Amaya, “This is the… the hard part to recount. So I apologize but I must gather my thoughts…”

The few seconds was all that Amaya needed. She looked to her translator and shook her head, then reached over and tapped Gren three times on the wrist. Those beautiful blue eyes opened. They were glazed with pain and the pupils were fixed on Amaya. He began to mouth some words over and over again. He made his lip movements slow and precise. When Amaya found out what he was mouthing, her sorrow quickly melted away into anger.

_Viren did this._ That was what he was trying to tell her.

Viren turned back around and was taken aback by Amaya’s expression. She had on an expression of pure rage, all that echoed in her head was what Gren had tried to tell her.

_Viren did this. Viren did this. Viren did **all** of this. _

She let that sink in a moment. Viren was the one that took Gren’s voice, that took her voice. She signed at Viren with quick hand motions. The translator who was now backing away from Amaya a little quickly translated the phrase.

‘How DARE you!’ 

Gren mouthed the words, trying desperately to translate for her as he used to, but nothing came out. Viren stood from his chair.

“What is the meaning of this!?” He shouted in response, clearly not understanding how Amaya could be so mad. Then he noticed Gren. The man was awake. “No… no that’s not..” He had made sure that Gren would be asleep for the duration of Amaya’s visit. What went wrong?

His thoughts were cut off by Amaya leaping over the bed, grabbing her shield in hand. She quickly knocked him over the head with it. Viren responded by stepping back quickly and turning his attention to the door.

“GUARDS!” He called out as Amaya went in for another attack. Moments later, two guards came into the room, “S-She just started attacking me! I don’t know what’s gotten into her!”

Amaya turned to face the guards and sidled over to the bed that Gren was in as they came closer. Thinking quickly, Amaya used her shield to knock over one with all her strength and as the other tried to restrain her, she threw all her weight to the side and twisted her body to hit him.

While the two guards were dazed, she grabbed Gren and placed him over her shoulder. She held a hand out to her translator, a sign to stay where they were and then left the room. Viren followed after.

“Get the General! She’s gone mad! Don’t let her get away!” Viren shouted at some more guards nearby. They passed on the message and as Amaya made her way across the courtyard to her horse, arrows were being shot at her. Many guards refrained from attacking out of respect for their general, but not enough. She managed to make it to her horse.

It was only when she secured Gren on her horse, that she spurred it on, making it out of the castle just in time for the gate to close. Still, she pushed her horse onward. Gren held onto her waist tightly with his right hand, but his left hand was still closed in a tight fist. Amaya briefly wondered why, but she had more important things to think about.

She was going to make sure that Gren made it, and she needed to go back to the Breach and tell the soldiers about what had happened.


	3. Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up longer than I expected, but here you go.

Amaya continued on until dusk started to fall over the land. By then, they were far enough away that they could pull off the road and find a place to sleep for the night. She found a suitable enough spot in a small forest clearing. A few large rocks dotted the area, but nothing too troublesome.

The general knew these forests well, as she was expected to, having patrolled them often enough while on duty. She knew that there was a river nearby, the same large river that wound around one side of the cliff that the castle sat upon. She steered her horse through the trees carefully and once they reached the clearing, brought it to a halt. As soon as she dismounted her horse, helping Gren off as well. She guided her friend to a nearby rock and sat him up against it. First thing she had to do was check his bandages.

He was really pale and his lips quivered. Amaya guessed that if he had his voice, he’d be whimpering from the pain. Still, his left hand was clenched tightly, even as his right hand clung to Amaya as if the man were afraid he’d lose her. She looked him in the eyes and realized just how scared he was. She needed to calm him before she did anything else.

‘Gren, It’s alright. I’m here’ She used Gren’s sign nickname as a way to comfort him.

Gren sniffled, clearly holding back tears. He went to sign, lifting his left hand… then realized he couldn’t, not without letting go of whatever he was holding onto. He slowly opened his hand, revealing a coin.  
It took him a moment to realize there was a face on the coin, one of an elf. He had a terrified expression.

_I always seem to capture the same expression. Defiance, giving way to absolute fear._

He knew it, this was the man he had talked to, he had said his name was Runaan. It dawned on him that the reason that he hadn’t answered Gren was because he just wasn’t there. He hated elves as much as Amaya had, but with the conversation he’s had with this one and what he’s heard Viren do to him. He couldn’t bring himself to hate this one. 

This elf had a name and what small snippets of conversation he’d been able to get out of him revealed that he had someone he cared about like a daughter. That made it so much harder to hate him. So much harder than a faceless elf on the battlefield. Gren closed his hand again and looked to Amaya.

‘What have you got there?’ She signed to him.

There was silence for a moment as Gren thought of an answer. Amaya wouldn’t understand. He mouthed his words but his stuttered in his lip movements because of a sharp spike of pain. ‘A prisoner. He’s trapped in a coin.’ Gren answered simply, ‘There’s nothing we can do for him now, but maybe we can find help later…’

Amaya watched Gren’s lip movements carefully and once she’s sure she pieced together the entirety of what he said, she nodded. Standing up, she went over to her horse and pulled a pack from it, there was a pouch on the side. She set it next to Gren and pointed at the pouch. She didn’t say anything, but Gren understood. He moved to place the coin inside the pouch, the the action caused his wounds to flare up and he dropped the coin into the grass.

The General was quick to notice minute details, it was one of her many, many strengths. She didn’t miss the purple skin, ears, and elven markings that the man on the coin had before it landed face down on the ground. She had a small look of shock on her face, as if Gren had betrayed her. Slowly, she looked from the coin to Gren.

‘What is the meaning of this?’ She asked, flipping the coin over on the ground so the face was showing. Gren was going to sign back, but a sudden wave of pain washed over him. All thoughts of the coin were abandoned by Amaya as she put her hands on the man’s shoulders.

Gren nearly doubled over, trembling. Amaya could tell his breathing was getting more ragged. She took his hand with one of hers. Frantically, she was trying to remember what she’d learned to do in order to treat a burn.

Slowly and with care, she began to take off what clothing remained on the man. Either Viren or the doctor had removed the pieces of armor so he’d be comfortable laying in the bed. She left the bandages on, but instead rustled through the sack for something. She picked up the coin and placed it in the pouch as well, they can deal with him later. She retrieved a tin and a raggedy cloth and kept them in one hand, then slowly tried to help Gren up.

She led him to the riverside and sat him down near the shore. They could be spotted in such an open area, but keeping Gren’s burns hydrated would help them to get better faster. Setting the tin aside, she dunked the cloth in the water and rang it out, setting it on her lap before starting to undo the bandages.

The wounds weren’t as extensive as she originally thought they were.The burns on his arms and legs seemed severe, despite the fact that they were usually covered by sleeves and pant legs respectively. Gren was unresponsive at the removal of the bandages, looking at what Amaya was doing with half lidded eyes.

Amaya paused as she finished taking off a length of bandage from Gren’s arm. Deep, angry rings of red were revealed on his wrists. They had been covered up but now Amaya could see them and she could guess what they were from. These marks look like they were made by restraints of some kind. Suddenly Amaya felt herself swell with anger once again. Viren restrained him, probably had him locked up in a dungeon for how many days!? She was livid.

Amaya just gave a deep sigh. Even though she was angry, she’d be no help at all if she stayed angry. Treating Gren’s injuries were what was most important. She took the cloth on her lap and touched it gently to the rings. She could almost see the hiss that Gren emitted at that. She took his hand with her free hand and held it as she treated the wounds. There were several times where he jerked at the touch of the cloth, but he tried to stay still. The General repeated this process for the other arm and both legs and then opened the tin to reveal a salve that many military soldiers keep in them in case of a medical emergency.

She took her time applying that to the wounds and fetched some clean bandages, coming back and bandaging the wounds. Gren seemed to be deep in thought the entire time. The sun had nearly set by the time they were done which left them with little time to get a camp set up.

Slowly, she helped Gren up and guided him back to camp, settling him against the same rock as before and helping him to get his clothing back on. Then she set to work gathering wood for a fire. Within a few minutes they had one going. Amaya knew it was risky to light one, but they needed the light and the warmth.

Rifling through the bag once more, Amaya found some rations that had been stored for the return trip to the breach. She placed one wrapped packet of rations and signed in his field of view, ‘Do you think you’ll be able to eat by yourself?’ Gren just nodded in response and slowly set to work unwrapping the rations and eating. Viren had managed to take most of his energy from him but he believed he could manage this.

Amaya stood, checking a few things before sitting down and starting to eat her own food. Mainly, she wanted to tether the horse so that it’ll still be there when she wakes up. The pair ate in silence. It was a bit hard to sign or mouth words while eating, so the silence was necessary. Amaya had a few thought cycling around in her head that she wanted to talk to Gren about.

When they both finished, Amaya moved to sit next to Gren and signed to him, ‘How are you feeling?’ After seeing the sign, Gren gave her a downcast expression before signing back.

‘I feel terrible… especially since I don’t have a voice now…’ He replied to her truthfully in sign language, ‘I.. I’ve always been your voice, Amaya’ He used her sign nickname out of habit, ‘but now I’m..’ Gren was just about to make the sign for the word ‘nothing’ when Amaya stopped him by putting her hands over his. He seemed surprised at this action, dropping his hands to his lap after and looking to Amaya.

‘Don’t say that you’re nothing. You are still important to me, Gren. I didn’t choose you as my translator for just your skill with sign language. So get those thoughts out of your head right now. I’m not going to just abandon you because you lost your voice. I know how… how it feels to think that way, but I assure you. It won’t happen.’

Gren took a moment to process all the signs that Amaya was using, but once it sank in, he teared up at the sentiment and signed back, ‘There’s good news, my voice isn’t entirely gone… I don’t think. Viren put it in this little… clawed hand thing and locked it away. I know we can’t go back for it, but when we get help and come back, maybe we can look for it?’

Amaya smiled at the news, ‘Of course we will. But for now you should rest. We’ve got a long ride ahead of us.’ She wasn’t even going to bother asking about the Elf, not yet at least.

‘I don’t know if I can…’ Gren replied in signs.

‘Well try your best, please… We’ve got a long trip ahead of us tomorrow.’ She signed back. Gren replied with a nod and tried to get comfortable, closing his eyes. The salve had numbed the pain for the time being and made it easier for him to get to sleep so he was out like a light with a half an hour.

Amaya just stared into the fire, thinking deeply about everything that happened and the journey they had ahead of them. Things like where they could stop to get supplies and what routes they can take to avoid running into anyone, after all… she doesn’t know if Viren sent someone after them or not.

Once she noticed that Gren had fallen asleep, she reached into the side pouch of the pack that she had nearby and pulled out the coin. The elf’s expression caught her off guard. She’s seen many elves with that expression before, elves on the battlefield that had every intention of killing her but she had managed to kill first.  
There was something about watching this elf struggle to get out of his prison. Amaya narrowed her eyes and shook her head. This elf would be glad to see her dead. She was sure he hated humans as much as she hated elves. The symbols on the side of the coin caught her eye though. She didn’t really recognize them, but she guessed they were part of the spell that put him in the coin. 

Amaya didn’t understand at all why Gren wanted to free the elf, but she did know that Gren’s kind demeanor can sometimes get him into trouble. For a few minutes, she debated internally on what to do with him. Having a captive elf might suit the military well. All sorts of information can be gathered by him, provided he’s willing to talk.

On the other hand, they didn’t need the looming threat of the spell breaking and having to deal with an elf attacking them or Gren trying to find a way to free the elf only to end up dead by his hands. 

No, It’d be best for everyone if they didn’t bring the elf along with them. Amaya looked at the face in the coin one more time before making what would have been a schoff if she could speak and tossing the coin across the clearing, into the woods.

After that was finished, she put out the fire and laid down near Gren to sleep. She kept her shield nearby in case they awoke to trouble.


End file.
